Biscuit is Trapped and Euthanized; His Petmom and the Shelter Director Speak Out

Biscuit went out one day and didn’t come home. He was trapped, taken to the shelter and killed, as his petmom searched for him. A news crew spoke with the petmom and the shelter director after the community became outraged at the way Biscuit died.“I think it’s absolutely horrific they’re catching people’s pets, they caught my pet.” Emily Coulter

It turns out that cat trapping in Bowling Green, KY is legal, and Emily Coulter’s beloved cat Biscuit died because of that. Biscuit went out one day about two weeks ago, was trapped and taken to the Bowling Green/Warren County Humane Society, was scanned for a chip, then was immediately killed.

While the shelter has a 5 day hold policy for dogs, there is no such protection for cats. As people familiar with the behavior of cats know, many trapped cats will display the fear and apparent aggression that shelters associate with feral or anti-social behavior, which puts any unidentified cat at risk when shelters are crowded and do not have a hold policy.
Emily feels that if the staff had bothered to remove him from the trap and see that he was neutered and well fed and groomed, they’d have known Biscuit was someone’s pet, and at that point sould not have been so quick to kill him.

Word spread locally about Biscuit’s killing and caused outraged animal lovers to turn their anger toward the shelter. While understandable, that anger, if unabated, will make it even harder for the humane society to raise money and do what they can to rehome animals and deal with their area’s pet overpopulation problem.

A local news crew covered the story, speaking with both Emily Coulter and shelter director Lori Hare.

Despite the information saying the Bowling Green/Warren County Humane society’s Facebook page had been taken down due to the outrage expressed there over Biscuit’s death, we checked and the page is up now.

As was hinted at in the news report, both sides hope that Biscuit will not have died completely in vain. Emily Coulter met with shelter director Lori Hare and posted this message on the humane society’s Facebook page yesterday:

“For all of those who are outraged about Biscuit’s death–thank you for your kind words and condolences. He will be missed SO much, but after talking to the Director of the HS (who was so sweet, genuine and apologetic) we agreed that the best way to make sure he didn’t die in total vain is to make a learning experience out of it.
She gave me her word from now on, signs of ownership will be checked more carefully before euthanization. But I was wrong about Bisc being microchipped..when I went to pick up his vet medical records I found he wasn’t..which I genuinely thought he was since we always do this at the same time we fix all of our pets when they are young.
I still feel that the treatment of Biscuit while he was at the HS was wrong and that he should have been checked to see if he was neutered or not as he didn’t look feral at all and came from a suburban area..I took him to the groomer’s for heaven’s sake. But Lori has received outrageous/dangerous threatening messages I wasn’t aware of.We all know that won’t help; it wasn’t personally her fault and it won’t bring Biscuit back.
I will keep in touch with Lori about ways Biscuit can be remembered through more precaution, education, and since these cat traps are legal and aren’t going away..creating a way for more people to be able to microchip their cats..which most people don’t think to do with cats. I feel better after meeting Lori and the things we talked about.
I’m angry about Biscuit’s unnecessary death..but continued anger toward the HS is going to end up hurting other animals..and I don’t want that..and neither would have Biscuit.”

A visit to the humane society and adoption center’s Facebook page and website show that despite what happened to Biscuit and the lack of a hold time for cats, the Bowling Green/Warren County Humane Society does a lot of good for the local area’s animals.

About Karen Harrison Binette

Comments

Ever since Hurricane Katrina, I chipped my cats. It’s surprising how many people think just because their cats don’t go outside, that chipping isn’t needed. All it takes is one escape, one natural disaster or one fire, and an indoor only cat turns into an outdoor cat…and they depend on us to protect them. Please chip your cats…

It is a shocking story to us, but sadly, it happens a lot! Shelters don’t have to “euthanize” any pets that are healthy or treatable. No Kill shelters exist now (save rates of over 90% of animals taken in). But traditional shelters refuse to change and make the simple improvements to their practices to save lives! Read Nathan Winograd, “like” the No Kill Advocacy Center on Facebook, get informed. Demand better.

“It is time to take our shelters back. . . . what we do not need are more promises that shelters will do better. We already have such promises and as the above photographs show, and as 4 million dead animals every year prove, those promises are not sincere. What we must demand are strict laws that regulate shelters; laws that force them to live up to their names and mission statements.” – http://www.nathanwinograd.com/?p=5771

“It is time to take PET OWNERSHIP RESPONSIBILITY back… what we do not need are more promises that PET OWNERS will do better. We already have such promises and as the above photographs show, and as 4 million dead animals every year prove, those promises are not sincere. What we must demand are strict laws that regulate PET OWNERSHIP; laws that force them to live up to their CHOICES and RESPONSIBILITIES.”

There, that sounds better…

Instead of blaming animal control services (who are NOT shelters) or overworked, overcrowded and overwhelmed shelters, or putting the responsibility on governments for things we should be doing for ourselves and our communities, here are things YOU can do to help: microchips, break-away collars with IDs, organized affordable neuter programs, trap-neuter-release programs, free non-judgemental pet ownership education/information programs, volunteering at local shelters, partnership with local pet stores to supply information to new pet owners and/or encouraging pet stores to sell local shelter pets… Are you a graphic artist? Volunteer your skills with posters and flyers. Are you a mom or dad with young children? Next play date or birthday party, take the time to teach the kids about responsible pet ownership – it’s never too early. Are you a long-haul trucker? Volunteer some space and offer your services to a local shelter or humane society to transport rescued pets to other provinces/states. Are you a vet or vet tech or vet student? Organize/volunteer/encourage your school or clinic to offer low-cost vet services to your community.

Construction workers, lawyers, accountants, financial services professionals, cleaning staff, cabbies, food industry workers, dumpster divers, dancers, politicians (yes, you heard me!), police, office workers, EVERYONE can contribute something – only then will communities be able to take control of local pet overpopulation and these incidents be avoided.

While I believe urban/suburban cats should be kept inside or under supervision (like dogs), there is no excuse for immediately euthanizing any healthy cat who might be someone’s pet or a member of an established feral colony. Why not have a hold period for cats and push microchipping/licensing? It improves the odds so much of getting your kitty back. I hope there are some serious changes instigated in this area,

I think the best thing the cat’s owner could do is talk to an attorney. Most shelters have minimum holding periods. The fact that this shelter did not leaves them wide open to a lawsuit. Also, if the law allows cats to roam free ( no lease law ) she needs to track down the trapper and sue him too. Nothing changes a bad policy quicker than a good lawsuit !

Yikes ! I posted my ” I agree ” comment under Irene – not ” Cat “. Irene I agree with. Cat – not so much. It has been the public blamed for far too long by kill shelters and/or animal control. This lady did nothing wrong. Microchips fail far more often than anyone knows. I could tell you stories involving thousands of avid microchips that would never have gotten the pet home. You can never, ever count on the microchip! The blame here lays mostly on the idiot who trapped the cat and then on the ” shelter ” that killed him.

I do not believe cats BELONG indoors.. We domesticated them, yes.. By making them a prisoner inside? No. I have three parrots, no matter how domesticated that are, they are still birds. They have wings, and were made to fly.. taking that away and locking them in a cage is like taking a persons feet off and putting them in prison. My birds have a 126 sq ft pen, with more than enough room to fly free.. If you keep pets, give them a place outdoors that is safe for them.. Still, pets do get away, even if you are the best owner in the world, they can still escape, and that is no fault of hers.. I’ve had two of my birds escape, thank god one is very bonded.. She went out the dog door, and waited all day on the porch. She shelter needs to step up their procedures.. Yes, they are crowded, I understand that, but there was no reason to immediately kill this poor cat, no attempts were made except a scan.. Our shelters here reach out through FB and other contacts to try and find the owners.. No excuse!